Apple IPads

mikeyboy

Hi,

I am wondering if anyone can help me, I am looking at buying an Ipad, due to travelling a lot seeing customers it looks like a great way of having an extremly portable method of accessing my calender for appointments, emails etc.

Just a few questions!:

• Can you store/view PDF files on an Ipad? I am wanting to be able to show clients PDF brochures etc.
• Can I link the email on an Ipad to my MS Office (exchange?) server at the office?
• Would16GB be sufficient for an average user? can anyone give me an idea of what the actually means in laymans terms?

I do have a laptop already, but it is a bit heavy and not great for lugging onto planes, trains etc. I have seen a few other people using the Ipads now, they seem very impressesd.


Thanks!

jayme1

yes you can view pdfs you transfer accross to in the 'Books' app
also it will display pdfs natively if one is sent to you in an email.

yes it fully supports multiple exchange accounts, with email, contacts and calendar, so you can use you work and a personal account ie gmail and hotmail through push exchange. (depending on your exchange you may need to enable mobile access tot he exchange)

yes 16GB will likely be more than enough for all, the only real reason you would need loads more space is if you are going to put loads of music on it or (if a 3G ipad) you can use a GPS app and the tomtom app is something like 1.5GB but that still leaves you a lot of space

you can even compose documents using the ipad using google docs you can also view word documents, excel and powerpoint documents that are emailed to you
http://www.apple.com/uk/ipad/features/

edit the multiple exchange accounts is coming with the 4.2 update early next month (along with multitasking and other features) so you can only do one exchange account at the moment

mikeyboy

Hi Jayme,

Thanks for the reply, really useful!

Do you have one? are you getting the full 10 hr battery life?

Also, do you know anywhere doing good offers on them, or is it a case of paying the full whack at the Apple shop?

Thanks again!

mikeyboy

One other question Jayme, I am looking at the 3G one so I can work remotely of WIFI. I am looking to get one of the micro sims for Ipad which a few networks are doing now.

How much data allowance each month do you think I will need? I.e. I will be wanting it to auto-sync my emails and calender every 30 mins or so during work hours and surf the web maybe 2 hrs a day? not sure how much the push email etc uses.

Thanks!

jayme1

no I cant say I have one I have an ipod touch and thay are very similar devices, (I may look at the 2nd gen ipad as that is touted to include a camera for video calls) so cant fully comment on the battery life but as far as I know you should get close to the stated battery life you should at the minimum get a full day out of them (6-8 hrs)

but I do know as with all apple products you do pay the asking price but sometimes you do get offers such as a free carry case or such.

as for the 3G data 500MB should be more than enough for push email and general internet surfing, but 3 mobile have (as far as I know) the best data deals (£7.50 for 1GB for 30 days on one month contract) and it is a bonus as you get a full 1GB of data so you can surf pretty heavily. but o2 also have similar tarrifs but if you were going to pay £15 then 3 gives you 10GB whereas o2 only give you 2GB.

as I say 500MB should be enough but with 1GB you should be more than safe, you can also check your usage in your settings and can reset it every month when you get a new data alowance. so you can use that to reduce you plan or switch to a cheaper network.
so your first month buy a 1GB plan and as you use it check your usage using the data counter.

ps with 3 mobile you are alowed to use the skype app over 3G (ipad has a mic built in) something you may find useful if you have to be away from home or just want to call places.

d123

I have an iPad and use it on a daily basis, for PDF files I use an app called Goodreader, even allows you to download PDF files direct from the net.

I would say the 10 hour battery is pretty conservative, I have never been caught with a flat battery at the end of a day. I have the 16gb 3G model and use it with a 3UK sim, I have used around 300mb per month in the 2 months I have been using it.

Unless you are downloading lots of movies I think you will struggle to fill a 16Gb. I have some music, tomtom Europe, about 5GB of ebooks and PDFs, 2 movies and still have about 4GB free.

amcluesent

+1 for Goodreader and Dropbox for keeping a stash of file in sync with your PC.

I have a 16Gb iPad and it's fine for apps and documents. Each PDF is only a few 100Kb tops, a movie is 1Gb+!

I have a wi-fi only iPad and use my 3G phone as a wi-fi 'hot spot' to connect it to t'interweb. Saves paying for two 3G tariffs.

There's more business apps for iPad now, 2Do etc. for managing contacts with clients that sync to Google Docs and the like.

Chorlie

I've the 32Gb 3G iPad, I bought a Vodafone 1GB sim card (the one that doesn't expire after 30 days) and cut it down to fit, my data usage is very small so 1GB will last me months.

Have to agree Dropbox is great for the iPad, I also have Goodreader.

If you have an Android Smartphone you can download an App to create a WiFi signal or by a MiFi, if you don't want the extra expense of another mobile contract.

I get a full days use without any problem out of my iPad, my friend has the WiFi only iPad and her battery lasts longer, the 3G one does use more battery power.

libra10

I've just bought the 32GB Apple Ipad, purchased from Amazon. It's an amazing device.

PC World are selling 16GB with WiFi model at £429
32GB model with WiFi at £499, 3G models slightly more expensive. Cheaper prices than I paid at Amazon.

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/ipad_has_arrived-654-commercial.html

Good luck

totalsolutions

I don't understand why you don't a one already. We have one each, brought on the first day without ever seeing one too.

prowla

I've looked at them a couple of times, and I just don't get it.
It's OK for surfing the web, but the apps are limited as it's not a full-blown computer.
You can view PDF, but not Flash.
Maybe you will be able to use it for "cloud" computing (ie. the apps are stored on the web rather than locally), but that's not mature technology at the moment and you are never sure if Apple will withdraw support for key components.
I could see its use for embedded applications, but as a general purpose business tool, I think the limitations would become obvious all too soon.
I was playing with one in an Apple shop yesterday and it seemed rather slow.
The storage is very limited too; I mean 16GB is nothing!
So, apart from the initial "wow - I've gotta have that!" rush, I just don't know.
Maybe one day it'll turn into a tablet Mac, andthat will be a whole different thing!